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All Posts Tagged ‘Renee Zellweger’

I’ve been tagged by Anna at Dummy Mummy in a Q&A that started with Kerry Jean Lister and is based on The Guardian’s Q&A. She actually tagged me a few days ago but it’s taken me this long to get my answers down and posted, mostly because I then read a post where Gemma at helloitsgemma was tagged and she said that, according to Northern Mum, your answers to the questions show whether you’re: 1) a knob, 2) a nice person, or 3) someone worth having a pint with. So, no pressure then…

Which living person do I most admire and why?

Too many different people, and the answer changes on a regular basis depending on my mood.

When were you happiest?

Probably our wedding day and then the days since I’ve settled into motherhood and really begun to enjoy my time with Baby O. The first weeks (or perhaps months) I felt totally bewildered and overcome with so many emotions that I was not really able to appreciate what an incredible experience it is to have a baby. Yes, I loved him from the first minute, but it took me a long time really to learn to appreciate motherhood.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

Again, so very many…!

Aside from property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?

Probably the iMac that I’m typing this on. And I LOVE it!

What is your most treasured possession?

My wedding and engagement rings.

Where would you like to live?

I love living in Stockholm most of the time, but sometimes I long for London (when I’ve seen a film set there and they use a fab location) but this lasts until my first journey on the Tube… I fell in love with both Chicago and San Francisco when we were in the States in 2009. I like the idea of living in Rome too.

What’s your favourite smell?

Baby O, freshly baked bread, petrol, soil.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

Husband would probably say Meg Ryan, and while I’d prefer Reese Witherspoon, I think Renee Zellweger in her Bridget Jones phase is more realistic.

What is your favourite book?

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute is one I can read over and over.

What is your most unappealing habit?

Being judgmental, I’m afraid to say. I really wish that I wasn’t and I try hard not to be, but sometimes I just cannot help myself.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?

I almost went to a fancy dress party as Holly Golightly but then it got cancelled, so I wasn’t able to. Probably a good thing really as I doubt I would have been able to pull that off.

What is your earliest memory?

Having to use the outdoor (and only, at the time) toilet on a hot, sunny day. My parents bought a rundown Victorian semi when I was about two and a half years old and the only toilet was outside for the first good few months – urgh.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Red wine, chocolate and a hot bath, while reading a good book.

What do you owe your parents?

So very much, not least my life!

To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?

A friend who I allowed to drift. I then tried to resume our friendship after about a year but too much time had passed and now I miss her.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Husband and Baby O.

What does love feel like?

Panic-inducing initially, then overwhelming, but ultimately comforting and nurturing.

What was the best kiss of your life?

One sticks in my mind – when Husband and I had only been dating a few months. My stomach just dropped down into my feet. It has happened a number of time since, but that was the first time he kissed me like that and I can still remember exactly where we were.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Super, great, bizarre, insane

What is the worst job you’ve done?

I’ve not really had a really terrible job per se, but I did have a strange experience once where I was given £500 by my boss’s boss for my “continued loyalty to him and the company”… It wasn’t as dodgy as it sounds, I promise, and I was a student at the time, so the £500 was very much appreciated!

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Nothing. I think all the decisions that I have made and paths I have taken – good and bad – have brought me here and made me the person that I am today. Editing and changing them would change me.

What is the closest you’ve come to death?

Being swept out of my mum’s arms and out into the sea by a massive wave, aged 3, when we were walking around to a hidden cove in Cornwall. I don’t really remember it, but I think maybe this is why I have always been afraid of the water and am such a terrible swimmer.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Two things: my career so far (not bad for someone who had to drop one A-level and was told that I was too stupid to go to university) and becoming a mamma and managing to do it for almost a year without major damage (hopefully!) to me or Baby O.

When did you last cry, and why?

At my cousin’s wedding, the weekend before last. The emotion of the moment overtook me.

How do you relax?

(See “What is your guiltiest pleasure?”)

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

The cleaner that Husband promised he would hire two and a half years ago…

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Find out what others’ agendas are; everyone has an agenda and once you know what it is, people are so much easier to understand. And “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

In brief: English, living in Sweden, with my Swedish/Hungarian husband and our sons, O and E, and trying to juggle all the different aspects of my new life – the me I was before, the me I am now and the me that I would like to be.